The invention relates to holding fixtures, and more particularly to an improved banner and sign display device.
It has long been human practice to display pictures and other information on banners, and to mount the banners on structures for convenience in viewing. Frequently banners have been mounted on free-standing or otherwise dedicated structures which hold them up in straight, flat, or unfolded condition to make them easier to read and see. It is of critical importance that such banner holding structures be sturdy, durable, and easy and simple to use and erect. It is convenient if such structures allow banners to be installed, removed, and replaced easily.
A number of attempts at making simple and effective banner holders have been tried. While each represents an advance, they are also each more complicated to construct and less simple to install and/or remove than is necessary. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,889 to Hopkins et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,675 to Roberts et al,; U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,913 to Hillstrom; U.S. Pat. No. 3,310,899 to Hart et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,609,894 to Miller; U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,035 to Bower et al.; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,675,356 and 3,495,346 to Gilmoure all disclose banner suspension systems requiring access to the upper end of the banner and therefore some ladder or lift for access during installation. The systems they disclose are relatively complicated and permanent, and require somewhat complex work to replace or remove.
Another attempt is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,420 to Mollet et al., which discloses a pole sign construction in which the upper end of a pole sign is hung from simple hooks attached to a pole support member. Again, hanging of the pole sign thus requires access to the upper end of the sign, as for example by means of a ladder or hydraulic lift.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,803 to Hillstrom discloses a ground access elevated pole banner which reduces the need for ladders or hydraulic lifts but relies upon a relatively complicated track system secured to the side of a pole support member.
Thus although several systems have been disclosed, there remains a need for a simple, secure, and effective means for suspending and displaying banners, flags, and other large means for exhibiting information. There is a further need for such systems which allow for the easy installation, removal, and replacement of banners for viewing.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a simple, secure, and effective means for suspending and displaying banners, flags, and other large means for exhibiting information. It is a further object of the invention to provide such systems which allow for the easy installation, removal, and replacement of such banners for viewing.
The invention provides such a system. The invention represents a novel and improved banner holder for displaying easily exchangeable signs, flags, and other banners with extreme structural simplicity and a minimum of moving parts. In general, the banner holder according to the invention comprises a support member, at least two mounting members, and an interchangeable brace adapted to hold the banner. The ends of the brace are adapted to engage the mounting members in such fashion as to make the brace, and the banner mounted on it, easily mountable, removable, and replaceable.
In its most basic form, the apparatus aspect of the invention provides a banner holder for holding a banner in a display position, the holder comprising a support member, first and second mounting members, and a brace adapted to retain a banner and to hold the banner spread out for display, typically in a flat or quasi-flat (e.g., a smoothly curved) condition for viewing or reading. The brace has first and second ends, each of which is adapted to engage one of said mounting members, and the first and second mounting members disposed upon the support member at a distance from each other sufficient to allow the mounting members to be simultaneously and reasonably engaged by the brace ends, such that said brace may be supported on said support member and thereby hold said banner in a display position. The mounting and removal of banners from a structures of this type, and in particular of each of the types described herein, in the manner herein described, is remarkably simple. Yet the system provides a very secure mounting well adapted to the efficient display of banners, etc. Moreover, by supplying a banner holder with a series of two or more braces, each with an attached banner, the replacement or rotation of banners and their associated messages, etc., may be very quickly and easily accomplished.
A preferred embodiment of the apparatus aspect of the invention comprises a substantially vertical stationary support member, a pair of mounting members disposed on the support member, and a brace adapted to hold the banner and to engage the mounting members, the brace being easily and surely attached to the support member by inserting one end of the brace into one or more holes in one of the mounting members, aligning a second end of the brace with a hole or holes in a second mounting member, and inserting the second end of the brace into the hole(s) in the second mounting member until a stop member proximate the second end of the brace is engaged by the mounting member. An alternative embodiment comprises a brace which is hinged at one end and comprises a spring-loaded detent at the other, the brace being rotated into contact with a mounting means disposed upon the support member. As the brace is rotated into position a banner attached to the brace is moved into a display position so that it may be viewed.
Thus in one aspect the invention provides a banner holder for holding a banner in a display position, the holder comprising a support member; first and second mounting members, each including at least one detent receiving aperture; and a brace adapted to hold a banner. The brace includes two ends, one or more frame members adapted to engage one or more ends or edges of the banner and thereby to hold the banner in a substantially flat disposition on the brace, and a mounting stop. The brace is longer than the distance between said mounting holes and includes at each said end a detent adapted to be received within one of the detent receiving apertures in the mounting members. Preferably, one of the ends of the brace includes a retention means adapted to prevent the brace from being withdrawn from the receiving apertures. In such embodiments of the invention the second mounting member is disposed on the brace at a distance from the first mounting member sufficient to allow the first end of the brace to be placed in the detent receiving aperture in the first mounting member and inserted thereinto to an extent sufficient to allow the second end of the brace to be aligned with and placed in a detent receiving aperture in the second mounting member, such that when the second end of the brace is inserted into the detent receiving aperture in the second mounting member to an extent sufficient for the mounting stop to engage the second mounting member, the first end of the brace is retained within the detent receiving aperture in the first mounting member.
Preferred embodiments of this aspect of the invention further comprise a retention means adapted to prevent the brace from being withdrawn from the mounting holes or detent receiving apertures in the mounting members. Most preferably, this retention means comprises a hole disposed in one of the ends of the brace (typically the lower end is most convenient to reach) and a retaining pin adapted to be received in the hole and hold the brace in place. As an example, drilling a hole through an end of the brace after it has passed through its mounting member and the mounting stop has been engaged to hold the brace in place, and placing a common combination lock or padlock through the hole provides a relatively simple, certain, and secure means for securing the brace.
In another aspect the invention provides a banner holder for holding a banner in a display position, the holder comprising a support member, a first mounting member, and a second mounting member, the second mounting member having a detent catch or detent receiving aperture adapted for releasable engagement of a displaceable biased detent, and a brace which is again adapted to hold a banner. The brace has first and second ends, the first end being rotatably attached to the first support member and the second end being free. The free end of the brace includes a displaceable biased detent adapted for releasable engagement of the detent catch or aperture in the second mounting member. In preferred embodiments, the biased detent includes a release mechanism, such that the free end of the brace may conveniently be released from the detent catch or detent receiving aperture. The first and second mounting members of such embodiments of the invention are disposed upon the support member at a distance from each other sufficient to allow the biased detent in the second end to engage the detent catch when said brace is rotated about said first mounting member and said biased detent is thereby brought into contact with said detent catch, whereby, when the brace is rotated about the first support member such that the free end is moved toward the second mounting member, the displaceable biased detent may reasonably engage the catch and the brace member may thereby be held in a display position or conveniently removed therefrom, so that the banner may be viewed and/or removed or replaced.
As will appear from the disclosure herein and in the Figures, banner holders according to the invention provide an extremely simple, secure, and effective means for suspending and displaying banners, flags, and other large means for exhibiting information. They also provide systems which allow for the easy installation, removal, and replacement of banners for viewing.